Quote:
Originally Posted by calculoso
Speaking of my family in particular, we've been in both the far north (where the Deerfoot / Stoney overpass will be) and far south many more times in the last 5 years than we've been downtown... especially walking downtown, and that's happened even more than walking across the river. We haven't been to Prince's Island, we haven't been to TD Square, etc. We just have no reason to go there.
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May I ask why not?
You're missing out on one of the crown jewels of our city if you've never been to Prince's Island. You've also probably never been bothered to explore any number of the other excellent interesting inner city areas that are peppered throughout our "downtown" (Historic downtown sites, the Glenbow Museum, Eau Claire, Inglewood, Bridgeland, Kensington(Hillhurst/Sunnyside), 17th Ave, 11th Ave, 4th Street, Mt Royal, Sunalta, Crescent Heights, Rosedale, Point McKay, Edworthy Park, Sandy Beach, etc).
You're also obviously someone who is opposed to this bridge.
I shudder to think about the mental and emotional viewpoint that someone of your experience has of Calgary. Honestly, if your entire time in Calgary has been limited to the extremely generic outskirts of our town, you might as well be living in Anytown, North America and that is probably exactly how you feel about Calgary.
I'm a born and raised Calgarian and I am interested in what it is going to take to make my city vibrant and sustainable; also in what it is going to take to make it an attractive, pleasant place to live and visit.
90% of the people that I interact with on a daily basis are transplants in this town and are so quick to spit on what a terrible place this is (and getting worse!), and how they're moving "back home" as soon as they have enough money.
What you see in Calgary is the result of this attitude. We've got this "get in, get out" attitude written all over this town and frankly it is not acceptable to a guy like me who intends on making this my home for a long time and is going to be raising a family here. I know I am in the minority.
It is nice to finally see something being done to encourage attention to an area that deserves it. Its an area that many people already enjoy and it is an area that should be celebrated even more.
The same thing is going on with Plan It... so much effort is going into creating options for our city, towards reducing long run development costs (economic and other wise), yet there is an outcry by a majority who don't understand the impact their lifestyle has on the long term viability of Calgary, nor do they care. Its brutal.
I fully agree with Fotze - this bridge is going to be the first shot of a long fight fired from those who genuinely love this town towards those who are just here to make a quick buck and then split.
OF COURSE a bunch of people who are not interested in Calgary in the long run are opposed to a gift to ourselves as well as future generations, born of the prosperity of our times.
Screw that.
I am pretty sick of the selfish, transient attitude of the majority of Calgary's citizens. This is one hill that I would be prepared to fight on because I am of the exact opposite mentality.